Our trip by car to Arcevia was rather exciting. We trusted our navigation blindly, and it led us along the rockiest roads to this charming town, which is situated 535 metres above sea level. We even took a couple of roads we were not sure were roads at all, but the fact that we did encounter other traffic every now and then led us to believe that we were on the right track. As we did not know whether Arcevia would be crammed with tourists, we had searched for car parks on a map before we left. We found a large car park along the Via Porta del Sasso, but from there it is still a stiff walk to the centre of town. There was not a single car in the car park, so we decided to drive on and ultimately found plenty of free spaces along the Via Guglielmo Marconi. We left our car there and continued on foot. Although we were used to temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius in the Marche, it was actually nice and cool here in Arcevia, no doubt because of the great altitude. It was also clear that it was going to rain, which was a blessing after several days of scorching heat.
Arcevia.
Arcevia – which was called Rocca Contrada until 1817 – has two specific highlights: its panoramic views and the collegiate church of San Medardo. The church is basically the only cultural highlight in the town. Its history goes back to the Middle Ages, to at least the start of the thirteenth century. No one really knows why the church is dedicated to the French bishop Medardus of Noyon (died ca. 545), but it claims to have a finger of the man, traditionally considered a gift from Charlemagne. People apparently invoke the saint as a rainmaker, and indeed it had by now started to rain. The church that we entered is no longer the medieval edifice, but a successor which was built between 1634 and 1702. According to my travel guide[1] the construction of the new church was ordered by Duchess Livia della Rovere (1585-1641), widow (since 1631) of the last Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria II della Rovere. The church, rebuilt by obscure architects from Pisa and Pergola, is completely hemmed in between other buildings, which makes it difficult to inspect its façade. Inside the building we fortunately find a scale model (1:50) from 1994.
San Medardo is the proud owner of two beautiful paintings by the Tuscan master Luca Signorelli (ca. 1450-1523). He was born and raised in Cortona, the town where he also died after a long and prolific career. During that career he was responsible for a wall fresco in the Sistine Chapel, while he also painted a cycle of frescoes for the cathedral of Orvieto. In the apse of San Medardo, behind the high altar, we can admire his Polittico di Arcevia, painted in 1507. In the middle of this polyptych, we see the Madonna and Child, with above them God the Father. God gives his blessing, and on the pages of his book we read the Greek letters alpha and omega, beginning and end. Eight saints flank the central panels. The saints of the lower register are Sebastian, Medardus (dressed as a bishop and with a model of Arcevia in his hands), Andrew and Roch. Above them we see Saints Paul, John the Baptist, Peter and lastly James the Great. The painter signed and dated his work at the feet of the Virgin. The predella consists of five scenes from the early years of Christ, while along the sides of the polyptych another fourteen saints were painted. The man who commissioned the work was Marco Vigerio della Rovere, bishop of Senigallia.
San Medardo has a single nave and has shallow chapels (or rather niches) with altars on the sides. There is one very large chapel on the left side, the Cappella del Sacramento. Here we find, in the baptistery, the second painting by Luca Signorelli, his Baptism of Christ from 1508. In my humble opinion, this work is even better than the Polittico di Arcevia, if only because the panel painting has a magnificent background. The three protagonists of the scene are God the Father (in the sky), Saint John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. While the two neophytes in the background are stark naked, the Saviour has very chastely draped himself in a colourful loincloth. It strongly reminded me of a scarf painted by Signorelli that I had seen in Florence. I do not know for certain whether Signorelli also painted the predella, but he was definitely not responsible for the saints on the sides. These are works of Luca di Paolo da Matelica (ca. 1435-1491). Among these saints we once again see, in the top right corner, bishop Medardus of Noyon.
Retable by Giovanni and Fra Mattia della Robbia.
The Cappella del Sacramento also has a beautiful retable by Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529) and Fra Mattia della Robbia (ca. 1468-1532). It has of course been executed in glazed terracotta, a technique that the Della Robbia family specialised in. Central figures are the Madonna and Child, flanked by Saints John the Baptist and Jerome. The latter is recognisable by the lion at his feet and the stone he uses to beat himself on the chest. The retable was made between 1510 and 1513 for another church in the vicinity of Arcevia. In the centuries that followed it was disassembled, mutilated and moved. In 1870 it ended up in the church of San Medardo. After a recent restoration it looks quite presentable and fairly original again.
If the previous paragraphs gave you the idea that the church only has works by Tuscan painters and sculptors, I can assure you that this is not the case. The church has various works by Ercole Ramazzani (ca. 1535-1598), a local painter and sculptor. In the Cappella di San Giuseppe on the left side, we moreover find a canvas from 1529 by the painters Piergentile da Matelica and Venanzio da Camerino, who were both from towns south of Arcevia.
View from Arcevia.
Note
[1] Bradt travel guide Umbria & the Marche (2021), p. 244.